It's also a huge waste to get so many young people borrowing to go to college when they might be happier and more well off as, e.g. firefighters, plumbers, mech

It's also a huge waste to get so many young people borrowing to go to college when they might be happier and more well off as, e.g. firefighters, plumbers, mechanics, electricians, etc, but feel societal pressure to 'succeed' at a point where they're not even entirely sure what that means. I see 'free college' and 'college by default' as two separate things, not as one. Just because someone can go to college (for free) doesn't mean someone should. In a 'free college' world, we would still need plenty of not-necessarily-college firefighters, plumbers, mechanics, electricians (and I'm sure there are many other routes that aren't best served by college), but people might not feel the same pressure to load up on debt at such a volatile point in their lives.